The Tractate Middoth Campaign - Game 1

1881 Templar church in the Carpathian mountains.
Rumours had reached the Carpathian Templar Grandmaster as to the whereabouts of the fabled 'Tractate Middoth' book taken to India in AD52 by St Thomas the Apostle. Its location was believed to be in a remote valley in the North-West Frontier Province of British India. Nobody new exactly where, but there was enough information for the Grandmaster to summon his most trusted Master, Solomon Kane. His task was simple. Find the book and bring it back to the Templar church.

Unbeknown to the Grandmaster, other parties in the region had also heard the rumours. Their interest was purely financial, but also piqued by the mystical properties associated with the book. The owner was reputed to gain immortality, a prize beyond the riches of man. One such party was the 'Brotherhood of Conjurors' from the mystical East.....

Scenario - Objectives (as per IHMN 9.1.1 with slight modifications as below)

• 3 objectives are placed on the table. 2 of them are blanks.
• 'Pea Soup' as per 9.2.2 in IHMN.
• 'Ancient Temple' as per 7.1 in SDRS.
• Starting Companies at 250 pts.

The Carpathian Templars (based upon the Templars in HV&F)
1 x Master with SRC breastplate, mace and pistol.
2 x Knights with breastplate, mace and pistol.
1 x Chaplain with breastplate, incense burner and 'Strengthen' mystic power.
2 x Sergeants with brigandine, halberd, bow and 'marksmen' talent.
1 x Fighting Dog.

Set-up

Scratch built ruined fort or temple, one of the possible locations for the 'Tractate Middoth'.

Looking towards the deployment area for the Carpathian Templars.

The Metcalfe Models cardbaord roads. They fitted in perfectly.

The road connected to the ruined fort.

 
Turn 1 - Visibilty 15"
The Brotherhood of Conjurors won the initiative phase and quickly spread out and advanced towards the possible hiding places for the book. The Carpathian Templars did likewise, but could make out no figures through the swirling fog. Out of the mists came water bullets which missed the dog on the edge of the cornfield.

Both sides advance towards the possible locations of the 'Tractate Middoth'.

The Conjurors in their colourful finery.

The Templars more sombre attire.

Turn 2 - Visibility 14"
Shadowy figures began to emerge from the fog, as both Companies tried to find the 'Tractate Middoth'. The first to the Temple were the Conjurors who found the book at the first attempt! Firing by both sides was completely ineffective, but the Templar dog dispatched a Conjuror riflemen in a furious assault.

Out of the fog both sides eye each other up...

... only for the Conjurors find the prize in the ruined Temple.

Turn 3 - Visibility 5"
Mystical forces must have been at work as the fog thickened, reducing visibility to only 5". With the Conjurors winning the initiative, the fog worked in their favour as their speed meant that they disappeared from view before the Templars could react. Only the dog was able to move to try and cut off the Conjurors escape path. With the fog so thick there was no combat, but Derek the Demon, the gaurdian of the Temple appeared, only to attack a Templar Sergeant as a lowly Conjuror ran for his life with the book. Luck was with the Sergeant as he was only stunned.

The Conjurors disappear into the fog.

Only the dog can prevent their escape...

Derek the Demon surveys his first victim, oblivious to the Conjuror with the book escaping into the fog.

Turn 4 -Visibility 10"
Despite the Templars winning the initiative, they could do nothing to prevent the Conjurors withdrawing from the fight, with the book safely in their possession. Once again the shooting phase was completely ineffective by both sides. Only the dog was able to take the fight to them, bravely dispatching another Conjuror before succumbing to a flurry of sword blows. With the Demon poised over the stunned Sergeant, one of the Knights attacked, only to be killed by Derek!

The Knight comes to the rescue, only to be killed after this picture was taken.

The Templar dog, the hero of the Company, shortly before he kills a swordsman and his demise.

With the Conjurors at the edge of the board and no-one close enough to do anything to stop them, we agreed that the game was over. In the end a comfortable Conjuror win.

Post Game Thoughts
In the end the game was over much more quickly than either of us expected. The Conjurors finding the book on the first attempt, coupled with the visibility being reduced to 5" for that turn was largely responsible for this. Never-the-less we both enjoyed the game, especially as it was the start of a narrative driven campaign.

The undoubted hero of the game for the Templars was the dog, who dispatched two Conjurors unaided. Without his speed the Templars would have been unable to do anything to the Conjurors, as their shooting, when it came, was so ineffective. To be fair the Conjurors were in the same boat.

So post game the Knight survived, as did the dog, but the latter would have to miss the next game to recover from his swords cuts. The Templars only managed to earn 4 victory points, not enough to use next game, but would be kept for future use. It could have been worse.

The Conjurors lost one man dead and the other must miss the next game. However they did gain 22 victory points, which would allow them to replace the lost man and to allow the Conjuror leader to gain the rather nasty sounding 'heart rending' mystical power from SDRS. He will certainly be someone to be reckoned with on close combat in future games.

We both thought that shooting has been pretty ineffective so far in all the games we have played. I think we are both re-evaluating the usefullness of the longer ranged weapons given our experience. We still have more games to play and other weapons to use, so maybe things will even themselves out a bit more, but only time will tell...

Campaign Continues
It will be some time before we can meet up for the next campaign game, but so far we've had the following thoughts:

• The figure in possession of the 'Tractate Middoth' confers immortality on it as per post game rolls in IHMN.
• Derek the Demon is pretty miffed at allowing the book to be stolen. He will re-appear at points during the campaign, as and when we see fit.
• The next game will move towards a small town, with either the Templars or another Company persuing the Brotherhood of the Conjurors.

As with many games, IHMN works best as part of a campaign, where the story is either set out in a fairly detailed manner to start with, or like our campaign, is very narratvie driven and takes on a life of its own. I'm already looking forward to our next meeting, but have plenty of work to do on scenery etc before then. Until next time.

Metcalfe Models

Of late I have been busy making scenery and terrain for a forthcoming 'In Her Majesty's Name' campaign that Craig and I are running. I used to have quite a bit when I played a lot of 'Mordheim', but lack of space led to all of it being given away or sold off. As with 'Mordheim', scenery is pretty crucial to having a good game. Buildings have been covered with some purchases from Sarissa Precision (and lovely they are too) as well as some scratch built ones. Woods I already have and some flock glued to brillo pads has given me some serviceable hedges. Walls are currently a work-in-progress, but are not needed for the first few games (I hope).

Generic tarmac roads were easily sorted out by speckling some 3mm mdf in a variety of greys. However they are a bit too modern for my tastes as well as for use in general built up areas for the period covered. Some searching online last night came up with Metcalfe Models, a company that I knew of from their pre-printed card buildings. I vaguely knew that they offered block prints of various building materials, such as red brick etc. Some searching revealed that they also made road surfaces, with the paving and cobblestone sheets of particular interest. Fortunately my local modelshop had them in stock, so a quick trip at lunchtime allowed me to see them 'in the flesh'. 

I was very impressed with the quality looking through the pack and for the less than Princely sum of £5.80, you get 8 sheets printed on thick card. I thought the paving sheets fitted my immediate needs and bought these as a trial pack. They exceeded my expectations to be honest and although you can see the dot matrix of the print if you look closely enough, they are more than adequate for the wargames table.

When cut out I was left with around 4' of paving at just under 4" wide, with another few feet of narrower paving at around 2" wide. There were also four 8" x 8" squares that are prefect to combine together to make town squares or cut in half to give more 4" wide 'streets'. I was suprised at how much paving I got from the pack, way more than I was expecting to be honest. My plan initially was to use these just for town or village type scenarios, but having seen them laid out, they are prefect for sub-terranean scenarios or in a cathedral etc. Add in some extra scenic items as required and you have a very usable set of 'roads'. I may even go back at look at the cobblestones in light of the above.

The only slight draw back is that due to them being printed on card, they are rather light weight and would most likely move around the table fairly easily. Only time will tell but they could be stuck to thin mdf, plastic etc to give them some 'heft'. Pictures of them 'in action' will appear soon as our campaign starts in a few days time.

IHMN buildings - a dilemma solved.

Like many wargamers, I have an issue with storage space. I simply do not have enough of it. SWMBO disagrees with me on this, but then I take issue with the amount of shoes she has. We have an uneasy truce on this subject, especially since I downsized everything to 10mm, more-or-less, several years ago. However the matter has recently raised its ugly head once again in the form of scenery for IHMN; specifically buildings.

Now I know from my time as an avid Mordheim player that 28mm buildings, even wrecked ones, take up a lot of space. For Mordheim you really need a lot of buildings to make the game work. The same could be said to be true for IHMN. You see many lovely looking tables on various Blogs, all beautifully layed out with plenty of buildings to give the Victorian Gothic/Steampunk feel to the table. They remind me so much of Mordheim...

But as already mentioned, this is simply not an option available to me on the storage front. Then there is the cost issue. This is not to be taken lightly. Whereas I can buy an IHMN Company for less than £20, to put the required amount of buildings on the table to get that Gothic feel, would set me back up to ten times this amount, even more if I wanted to. Although the table would look stunning, I simply cannot justify spending this amount of money for a game that I only play occasionally, no matter how much I enjoy it. Also it would only get used for that game and no other, whereas my 10mm scenery gets used for Dux Bellorum, Blitzkreig Commander, Black Powder etc, so it is easier to justify spending money on this.

So how to solve the problem? My friend Craig has come up with a rather nice solution to this dilemma, with his magnetic scenery, which having seen it in the flesh, works really well. However I prefer more solid buildings, that can have figures put in them (which to be fair Craig could do with some simple tweaks to his construction) and which are more 3D in their nature. I thought of going down the route taken by Matakishis's Tea House, which provides a very quick way of making certain types of buildings. This I will certainly try in the future, especially for a planned campaign for IHMN, but I wanted a quicker route to getting some buildings on the table.

So I looked towards the now ubiquitous laser cut mdf buildings route, as 'pioneered' by 4ground a few years ago. These buildings are so popular now that it is rare not to see them at any wargames show on a demo table. Relatively new to the market are Sarissa Precision, who offer an equally impressive range of buildings, but un-painted compared to the 4Ground ones. Since I last checked both companies, their ranges have increased with an awful lot of nice extras being added, even including vehicles. After much perusing of their respective websites, I decided to go down this route and with Sarissa, as they were cheaper and offered in my mind a nicer range of buildings. As I plan to add details to their basic kits, them not being painted was not an issue for me, especially as I have a full spray shop at my disposal at work.

The question was which buildings to choose and how many? The latter was easily answered by a quick scale drawing that showed that around 3-5 buildings would provide a nice amount of cover, not look to cluttered and be easy to store. As I want my table to be rural or semi-suburban, in the end I choose some buildings (see below) from their WWII range as I liked the look of them and they fitted in nicely with the plans for my table.

 

Farmhouse

Small House

Small Terraced House,

These came to only £35, with P&P being only £2.50, which I was pleasantly suprised at. As mentionend above, I plan to 'upgrade' these buildings before painting them, using some of the techniques as shown by Emmanuel Nouaillier, which I think you will agree produce incredible results. Alongside this I will use these buildings as a guide size wise to scratch build a few of my own to increase my 'real estate' as and when required. However my first job is to get these onto to the table as quickly as possible, not an easy task with my butterfly nature...

Rumble in the Jungle

My friend Craig and I hadn't had a wargame for some time due to a variety of factors. Finally having some time to get together, we agreed to have game of IHMN as Craig had recently had two Companies painted up. As he had a lot of 28mm jungle terrain for use with a variety of games, we decided to use this as it solved a whole host of problems.

Our normal gaming weather deserted us, with it tipping it down outside, so for once we were happy to be indoors. We both had two Companies to choose from; Craig went with his 'Brotherhood of Conjurors', which is basically a 'Black Dragon Tong' one and I with my 'Carpathian Templars', more-or-less the same as the one in 'Heroes, Villains and Fiends.'

We quickly layed the table out with a mixed bag of jungle terrain, a stream and  a temple, with cover ranging from 1-3 as per the rulebook. We randomly rolled for the scenario, with 'Kill the Leader' being chosen. My first thought was that that this would be a tricky one for me as my Company consisted of only 6 figures, one of which was a hunting dog. Templars are damned expensive! Arrayed against me was nearly double the number of figures, including a Yeti. 

Despite not having played the game for many, many months, we quickly got back into it, without little recourse to the rulebook. The QRS sheets were generally enough 95% of the time, which was great, as it allowed us to focus on the game, rather than constantly searching through a rulebook. Sadly we did not have time to take any pics as the light was not great and we were too involved in the game. A brief run down of how the game went follows.

Both Companys moved fairly quickly through the jungle clearings, mindful to protect their leaders from any rash exposure to gunfire. Early on in the game a Conjuror fell to a crossbow bolt as if to re-inforce the need to make the most of the cover. Sadly this was to be the only that the Templars shotting did anything... As the Companys neared each other, both split into two, either side of the river. The Templars hunting dog sensed a chance to charge the Conjurors leader, only to fail to inflict any damage, before falling to a hail of blows from all sides.

After this the Conjurors started to move and shoot their way towards the Templars, slowing heming them into a corner of the table. Things were not looking too good for them as they were slowly losing members without taking out any Conjurors in reply. Sensing the end, the Conjurors closed into close combat on all sides, only to start taking losses as the Templars steel and SRC breastplates proved their worth (and cost). Soon both sides were down to a few models, with the denouement fast approaching.

The Templar Grand Master lost his Chaplain and was surrounded by the Conjuror leader and two other troopers. Despite this time and again he won the combat, only to see the Conjuror leader rise up from being stunned each time. Third time lucky and he finally dispatched him, but would it turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory? Despite this being a one of game, I decided to roll for losses as if it were a campaign game. Out of the 5 figures lost, only 1 survived the game! Truly a Pyrrhic victory!!!

So what did we learn from the game? Well as few thoughts as follows:

• Templars are expensive, but their armour and stats really proved their worth in the end. However their limited numbers at the start due to their costs will severely limit them in some games. However as a campaign progresses they should come into their own once they can field a few more figures. In future I may even leave out the Grandmaster to start with due to his high cost. 
• Company reference sheets are a must. The last solo game I played I didn't have these and it really affected the game. Having them to hand makes such a difference.
• We also found that counters to show which models moved, ran etc are a must. I printed off the ones from the IHMN site and they worked a treat.
• The game is great fun and it was easy to remember the basic mechanics, depsite not having played for many, many months.
• I think the game really comes into its own when played as part of a campaign. This was certainly true of Mordheim. Our aim is to sort out some form of campaign in the future.
• Despite having fun with all of our Companies to date, we both agreed that we really want to create some that have that real Victorian Steam Punk feel about them. We both have ideas already, so now it is the age old case of finding time to fit it in amongst all those other gaming projects.
• 28mm terrain is going to be an issue for both of us due to limited storage in our houses. This is something we need to solve as lots of terrain really improves the game.

So their you have it. I'm not sure when we will be able to get another game in, but I'm looking forward to it already.

IHMN trial solo game

A week ago, Craig and I managed to get together for a few trial games of IHMN, a brief report of which you can find on Craig's Blog . Spurred on by this and the fun we had, I decided to draw up two Companies based upon my Mordheim Witch Hunters and Pig-faced Orcs (more details of which to follow later on) with the view to having a solo game or two. The Orcs are broadly speaking based upon the Zulu, with the Witch Hunters on the Cognescenti.

So after a few evenings playing around with lists etc, I had my forces ready. As I don't have any 28mm buildings yet, the game would be played in the countryside. I tried to give a variety of terrain and lines of sight to make the game interesting and a challenge. So this afternoon everything was set up ready for a game or two, with the first a simple 'Breakthrough' scenario as per the rulebook with no added 'extras'.

The Witch Hunters entered from the left by the woods, with the Orcs either side of the stream, deployed to mutually support each other.

The Orcs.

The Witch Hunters.

The Orcs won the Initiative and moved quickly into the long grass to take advantage of their stealthy talent. A lone Orc moved onto the hill to get a good line of sight for shooting with his crossbow. The Witch Hunters moved more slowly, weighed down by their armour.

The Witch Hunters moved into and alongside the small wood, the latter slowing their movement down.

The long grass helped to protect the Orcs from any shooting that might come their way. As it turned out, both sides had moved so far that the shooting modifiers were too much to allow any chance of a hit.

This time the Witch Hunters won the inititative and moved into combat where possible, whilst leaving some in the open for possible shots with their crossbows. Once again however, both sides movement prevented any realistic chance of any hits from their crossbows. In combat the Withc Hunters dog was rather easily dispatched, whilst the Orc leader was knocked down after being hit by an incense burner.

Both sides start to close into combat and line themselves up for shots from their crossbows.

In Turn 3 the Witch Hunters once again won the initiative roll, but the Orcs superior numbers prevented them gaining any real advantage in the movement phase. For the first time there was some shooting, but despite hits, both sides easily passed their Pluck rolls.

And that was as far as I got in the game. I had intended on writing up two reference sheets for each company for use during the game, but in the end didn't have time. This really hampered my ability to play the game, as I was constantly swapping bewteen books and pages. Mea Culpa! 

Despite this I learnt quite a lot from these few turns, as well as the trial games with Craig. So I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts based upon my games so far. In no particular order:

• The game mechanics are very quick to pick up, in fact after only a few minutes of playing.
• The rules provide for a fast and fun game.
• Reference sheets for each company are a must, detailing things like what a characters armour rating is, their Fighting Value etc. It saves no end of time in the game, thereby allowing you to concentrate on the game in hand.
• I think a 4'x4' table is better to play on compared to a 3'x3' table. So far I have been able to move into combat so quickly, thereby pretty much eliminating any ranged weapons. The extra space to manouevre in will give a better game I'm sure.
• Having played Mordheim for years, a good scenario is critical for any skirmish game. The ones in the book are very simlar in feel to Mordheim and some will work much better than others IMHO.
• A few buildings are a must to give some variety not only to the visual look of the table, but also game play.
• I find the fact that each figure is gauranteed to move in each turn a bit strange, as all the games I have played of late have involved some form of 'command-and-control' element. I'm going to try having each figure having to roll higher than their Pluck roll at the start of each turn before they can perform an action. It may or may not work but I want to try it.
• I haven't found ranged weapons to be very effective yet as mentioned above. This may be due to the very open terrain I have due to the lack of buildings on my part, so the jury is still out. As and when I get some buildings, which are in the pipeline, I'll be able to make a more objective judgement.
• Figuring out how terrain limits movement is a bit vague in the rulebook, but it appears that say a Type 2 piece of terrain removes 2" from a figures movement. If in doubt just use common sense.
• Playing the game as a campaign is a must as far as I'm concerned. I'm looking forward to starting my 'Tractate Middoth' campaign once I got the hang of the rules and sorted my Companies out.

So taking the above into account, I'm going to go away and write up two sheets for my Companies, to make the next game much easier for me to play. Hopefully another AAR to follow this weekend!

Mordheim Witch Hunters cum IHMN Knights Templar

Further to my previous post  with regards my Mordheim Witch Hunter warband, I thought I'd post some pics of them for you all to see. 

I used a simple palette of blue, red and beige to tie the warband together visually. This mix of rich colours combined with a natural linen colour hopefully conveyed an ecclesiastical feel to the warband. Details such as the red books, maces and braziers further underlined the visual unity of the warband.

So without further ado:

Witch Hunter Captain 

He will become my Grand master for IHMN.

Witch Hunters

The over large maces were hand sculpted. For IHMN I am tempted to come up with a special weapon for the Knights Templar to reflect these and their power against the forces of Darkness (as they see it).

These will become my Knights for IHMN.

Warrior Priest or Witch Hunter

These can either be a Witch Hunter or Warrior priest.

For IHMN the figure on the left will be a Chaplain, on the right a Master.

Flagellants

The two outer figures are Flagellants, with the one in the centre a Zealot.

The figure in the centre will be an IHMN Sergeant.

Zealots

Some of my favourite conversions. Useless on the battlefield but great fun to play with!

I plan to create a role for these within IHMN as Acolytes, Servants etc.

Warhounds

The 'old warhorse' of a dog always proved popular in games and was another favourite conversion. He could become a clock work dog for IHMN if required.

IHMN Carpathian or Siberian Wolves as required, but in Mordheim just standard warhounds.

Demonic warhounds affected by exposure to Wyrdstone in Mordheim, or creatures of Chaos used by the Witch Hunters against their original masters. Again in terms of the game just standard warhounds.

So hopefully the above quick snaps have given you an idea of my favourite Mordheim warband and some of the plans I have for them for IHMN. Time to go and put pen to paer for some further thoughts on my Knights Templars.

IHMN Knights Templar Company

I first got back into wargaming after a break of around 15 years with Games Worskhop's superb Mordheim skirmish game. The rules were first published in White Dwarf (when it was still an excellent magazine) and then not long after released as a boxed set which included the rulebook, scenery and models.

Many happy years were spent playing this and attending the annual fun get together at GW HQ in Nottingham, where it was more important to have fun than win the tourney (sadly not true of their core games it would seem).

Out of all the warbands, the Witch Hunters were the ones that really caught my eye. One day a spot of retail therapy saw me purchase a mix of figures from their 40K range to convert into Witch Hunters. The figures were superbly sculpted and full of character, exactly what I wanted for my warband. Many hours later the figures were finally finished after much conversion, some more so than others.

In those halcyon days I spent many, many hours painting each figure, with an hour or two each night for many weeks, even months. This effort was rewarded with my warband winning the painting competition at the aforementioned tournament. More importantly I had great fun playing with them and enjoyed the many compliments I received from fellow friends and gamers.

However things moved on and my regular gaming friends moved away and Mordheim slipped quietly away as a game, sadly never to see the light of day again. I sold off many of my warbands but could not bring myself to part with the Witch Hunters, having spent so much time and effort on them.

Fast forward to late last year and with the release of 'In Her Majesty's Name', they were brought down out of storage with a view to being given a new lease of life. Then when 'Heroes, Villains and Fiends' was released, I was very happy to see a Templar Company in the book, whose background fitted perfectly for my Witch Hunter figures.

So having a free hour or two this evening, I had a first stab at a Templar Company, which is broadly as follows:

Grand Master with SRC breastplate, sword and hand crossbow.
Master with SRC breastplate, mace and hand crossbow.
2 x Knights with SRC breastplate, mace and crossbow.
Sergeant with Breastplate, mace and blunderbuss/congreve rocket gun.
Chaplain with Chain shit, mace or incense burner, hand crossbow and a Talent.

(NB the stats for the above are the same as in the HV&F book with a few possible tweaks. Details to follow).

Options include:
Fighting dogs
Carpathian wolf
Talents of Weapons etc to be decided upon.

In terms of background, I see these as 'Templars' from the Carpathian mountains or Bohemia, fighting the evil that lurks in the East (and any thing else for that matter!). I've got a few ideas floating around in my head, some based upon the current 'Dracula' tv series on one of the Sky channels, that has given the standard story a nice twist.

So now I have my broad ideas sketched out, it is a matter of filling in the detail and then firming up my starting company of Templars. Alongside this I'm toying with the idea of a narrative campaign based upon MR James' 'The Tractate Middoth' that was dramatised over Christmas, with two Companies trying to track down the book, which may or may not give them advantages if they possess it. Still early days so watch this space...

Companys for In Her Majesty's Name

One of the downsides of In Her Majesty's Name is the sheer amount of choice that is available to you as you are able to create your own Companys quite easily. Fortunately the ones presented within the rules are great guides to give you an idea of what might appeal to your own gaming style or choice of figures. From my experience of Mordheim, I've found that it is always best to go with something that you like, whether that be the figures or background, as win or lose, you will enjoy playing with your figures. 

So after much thinking and searching on the internet, my first company would be broadly based upon a British Rifle Company. I was immediately taken with the Perry Miniatures figures from their Sudan range as they are great sculpts ( a bit of a given really) with plenty of character. Also I fancied having some 'stiff upper lips' to police the flar flung corners of the Empire, with access to the latest technology, which the Rifle Company fitted perfectly.

SB41 Camel Corps Command.

SB78 Camel Corps in melee.

My other company proved to be far more difficult to sort out as I couldn't settle on one, despite plenty of ideas. I wanted one that was quite different in feel to the Rifle Company, so that they gave a different challenge upon the gaming table. Whilst looking at the above, quite by chance I saw an image of Rioters from the Perry's ACW range. Bingo!, I had my other Company, to be based upon the Brick Lane Commune. Once again I was taken by the animation and detail of the figures that fitted perfectly with the weapons and broad background of the aforementioned Communards.

ACW52 Rioters with hand weapons.

ACW53 Rioters with firearms.

ACW54 Female & Young Rioters.

So the figures were duly ordered and arrived 3 days later. I was very impressed with all of the figures, especially the ACW Rioters. Unfortunately a few of the Sudan British figures had quite a bit of tool wear in places which took some time and effort to clean up, but looked fine at the end of it. 

So now it is a case of sorting out the list for each Company and then onto converting and basing the figures. When the lists are done I will post them here and naturally welcome any thoughts or comments. It has been a few years since I've painted any 28mm figures, so am not quite sure how long these will take. The army painter/Devlan Mud Wash route has certainly speeded things up these days, which is a bonus. As things progress I will put up pics of the figures and any interesting conversions.

Morris Men for In Her Majesty's Name

I picked up some recent Wargames Illustrated magazines over the weekend that I had lent to a good friend a few months ago. As many of you will know they have plenty of adverts for 28mm figure manufacturers, many of whom were 'new' to me as it's been some time since I've collected anything in this 'scale'. As I have decided to go down the 28mm route for IHMN, I thought I'd have a look to see what's on offer these days.

So after plenty of browsing I came across these wonderful figures from Woodbine Design in their TWDC Specials range, sold by Gripping Beast. I was immediately taken by them and the possibility of coming up with a unique and characterful company.

The scarecrows I just love as they remind me of the ones the Family of Blood in Doctor Who. Whether they will fit in with my ideas for the Morris Men remains to be seen, but I just might get them as they are so cool.